“They have been lagging the metal for a long time ... they’re finally trying to get out of the doldrums and do a little bit of catch-up here,” said John Kinsey, portfolio manager at Caldwell Securities.

Comments from World Bank president Robert Zoellick, calling for leading economies to consider readopting a modified global gold standard to guide currency movements, had little impact on the price of gold, but Kinsey said the remarks would be supportive for the sector overall. [ID:nSGE6A702V]

“This would make the gold stocks a little more legitimate as an investment I think ... The demand for the metal would be there and they would have to go out and build more mines.”

At 10:19 a.m. (1419 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 34.31 points, or 0.27 percent, at 12,959.42. Seven of the 10 main sectors were stronger, the including heavyweight financials, up 0.3 percent and materials, 0.5 percent higher.

“I think it may need a pause. Nothing goes straight up forever,” added Kinsey. “But we are getting seasonal here for the energy. Winter is coming and everyone seems to think La Nina is going to cause a very cold winter, and if we get a very cold winter that will be very good for the commodity.”